Here are five ideas I made for the final project. These reflect the sound I want to go for and what I want my production style to sound like. I made all of these on Ableton and some of them use samples. A lot of the ideas are hip-hop and lo-fi inspired and I hope this resonates through in the songs. I could pick two of these ideas and work on them both to make as my final project practical work, or I could come up with something entirely different from these as these were just me experimenting with sounds and learning more how to use Ableton. None of the songs are perfect; some are missing out instruments like bass, and none of them are mixed or mastered as they are simply rough ideas. If I choose one or two of these songs for my practical work, I will create more of a structured song, with other vital instruments. I will also add vocals when I can record these with Meg and Lucy and then mix and master the song nearing the end so they sound more professional.
Idea One
I really like the overall feel of this idea; it sounds almost like psychedelic hip-hop with the different automations on the the background melody. I took inspiration from Q-Tip here as he likes to use static sounding chords on the third beat of the bar. I came up with this chord progression myself after playing around with my guitar to find a jazzy sound that I could then use on my midi keyboard. The idea could have contained bass to fill the sound out and give it another melody and rhythm section, but if I add to this song later I will definitely add this; perhaps in the form of an actual electric bass. The song also uses a standard sounding hiphop breakbeat to reinforce the genre I want my music to sound like, and I can improve this by giving the drums some structure and making them drop in an out. If I carry on with this song, I need to improve the structure massively and create some areas for a verse and chorus as I can definitely imagine vocals being on this track.
Idea Two
This idea is probably my second favourite out of the five. The song itself is in 5/4 which is quite unconventional for a hip-hop/ lo-fi song but I still think it works well and it gives me a challenge if I produce the song fully. I forgot to quantize the second part of the drum beat but if I use this idea and expand on it, I plan to do this and perhaps make this beat much more detailed and interesting, adding layers like shakers and extra hits to make it feel more syncopated. Syncopation along with the complex time signature would make for a very unique song that hopefully stays within the genre and sound I want in the project’s outcome. I sampled the chords of the song from TikTok so if I were to use this, I would need to clear the sample before I release it to streaming platforms. I can definitely imagine having vocals on this song as it is very chilled out and is almost dipping into other genres like R&B or funk, which bots use vocals.
Idea Three
Out of all of the ideas, this one is probably my favourite. Nothing in the song is sampled and I came up with the chord progression myself. The drum breakbeat has some jazz brushes and a shaker behind it giving it some more texture, and the beat is very resonant of hip-hop breaks. I could imagine some vocals on this if I slowed the song down a touch and worked on the structure to make space for verses and choruses. This was my first real go at trying a piano solo ever; I think it works really well especially with the instrument and sound I chose. I also really like the bassline on the a song as it is simple yet it drives the song forward with those runs in the last beat of the bar. However, I think the bassline should be actually played on a bass if I get the chance and end up using this idea for my final as it will sound much less static and adding more human elements to it will give it more of a hip-hop feel.
Idea Four
As much as I love this idea, it doesn’t really fit with the genres I am aiming for here. However, I could take the chords playing in the back, slow them down and perhaps use these on a different track if I wanted as I feel like those would work really well for a hip-hop song. These chords were sampled off a TikTok video and I added a delay, reverb and EQ to make them sounding more unique and professional. The song is probably too fast and upbeat for a lo-fi song. I really like my mellow organ solo over the top of this; it makes the song interesting and I think I could use this idea for a later song. Also, the drum beats work really well but not necessarily for the genres I am aiming to sound like; the drums almost turns it into a funk fusion type song! I could have added an intricate bass melody to introduce some lower frequencies along with that bass drum pattern. Again, the white noise riser works for this type of song, but I wouldn’t use this for a hip-hop/lo-fi song as these are not conventional.
Idea Five
I think that this song really has some potential. The whole thing has a strong structure and I love the drum beat, which I tried to make sound like my inspirations and the genre I am going for. To give it a more lo-fi feel, I added a vinyl dust noise that stays fairly low in the mix for some authenticity and the shaker also adds to this as well. The bassline is fairly simple but it works as a lot of bass in hip-hop has a simple melody and rhythm. The piano is sampled from a video I saw on TikTok and I added effects like reverb and and EQ to make it sound brighter and more airy. If I was to use this song in my final and release it professionally, I would have to clear the sample with the performer first. The change in chord progression at around one minute is one of my favourite parts of the song as it sounds similar but gives the track a whole new structure. The only problem with this is that I couldn’t imagine having vocals on it, which is a massive part of the project for me. I also had some issues with panning on the track which I couldn’t find out how to fix; this is why all of the drums are panned to the right and the bass is all the way on the left. If I use this track for my final work, I will make sure this issue is fixed.